In London, the country\u2019s luxury retail hub, over half of high-end spending is driven by overseas tourists<\/a>. <\/p>\n The highest-value consumers are not Europe\u2019s neighbours but long-haul travellers. Shoppers from the Middle East, China and the US dominate luxury spend.<\/p>\n Middle Eastern visitors are in particular known for exceptionally high per-capita expenditure. European tourists, including those from France, contribute volume but not the same level of luxury spending.<\/p>\n The bigger picture<\/p>\n The Marc Jacobs sale is not just a portfolio move, it is a symbol of the industry\u2019s direction. Luxury is consolidating, and the gap between the biggest players and everyone else is widening.<\/p>\n For the UK, the challenge could be whether it can build its own megabrands. Or will it remain the world\u2019s leading exporter of fashion talent and feed the very conglomerates that now dominate the market?<\/p>\n London, widely regarded as one of the world\u2019s \u201cBig Four\u201d fashion capitals alongside Paris, Milan and New York, has long excelled at producing designers and ideas, but not at scaling them into multi\u2011billion-pound businesses.<\/p>\n The Marc Jacobs sale\u2014and the rise of megabrands<\/p>\n LVMH\u2019s divestment of Marc Jacobs is revealing. The brand, while globally recognised, sits below the conglomerate\u2019s top tier of performers. <\/p>\n The group is now focusing its resources on its largest labels including Louis Vuitton, Dior and Tiffany, where scale drives profitability.<\/p>\n A market built on creativity\u2014not conglomerates<\/p>\n While the UK remains one of the most influential fashion centres in the world, it is not one of the most commercially dominant.<\/p>\n Fashion contributes about \u00a320bn annually to the UK economy<\/a>, supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs. But unlike France or Italy, Britain\u2019s sector is fragmented, defined by independent labels rather than dominant global groups. <\/p>\n One British \u201cmega brand\u201d Burberry has a reported revenue of \u00a32.46bn<\/a> in its latest financial year. By contrast, France\u2019s LVMH controls multiple brands generating more than \u20ac5bn each annually, a threshold commonly used to define \u201cmegabrands\u201d.<\/a><\/p>\n
![\"King](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SEI_285850889.jpg\")
King Charles III speaks with Designer Stella McCartney as he attends the opening show of London fashion week on February 19, 2026 in London. (Photo: Richard Pohle\/WPA Pool\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n